


The Smoothest Course

by abcooper



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-24
Updated: 2012-03-24
Packaged: 2017-11-02 11:31:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/368549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abcooper/pseuds/abcooper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>12 year old Korra compares herself to a 12 year old Aang, and sees herself as lacking. Katara has a different interpretation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Smoothest Course

**Author's Note:**

> I watched the early release chapters of Korra and I was just like... "MUST WRITE ALL THE FANFIC. RIGHT NOW."

"Korra, STOP!" the command came from behind her, in the sharp voice of Master Zatu. Korra winced, but it was too late, the blast of water she'd released hit the target dead center, far too hard. The thin threads woven through it snapped on impact, and the hollow reed frame followed soon after. The water, which was supposed to move gently through the target and be separated into a number of thinner branches, dropped back into the puddle with a splash.  
  
"Aww man, not another one.” came the snide voice of one of the other waterbending students. Korra gritted her teeth. It didn’t make sense for her to train with them anymore anyways, she was years ahead of them from all her additional lessons with Master Katara.   She turned to face Master Zatu’s blistering glare head-on. It wouldn’t do for the avatar to turn away in fear; she imagined Aang’s spirit looking on, shaking his head at her cowardice. He was a constant imaginary presence these days, delivering friendship or judgment depending on her mood. She begged new stories out of Katara almost every evening.  
  
“This is an exercise in discipline, Korra!” Zatu was practically shouting, and she mouthed his next words along with him. “An exercise in control! Water is easily capable of brute force, but you have misunderstood its basic nature if you cannot - are you even listening?” He sighed, abruptly regaining control of his temper, and rubbed his forehead with two fingers as though trying to dissipate yet another Korra-headache. “Class dismissed for the day - I will need to rebuild our target before the exercise can continue.”  
  
Darkness was already setting in; the evening class would have had to end momentarily anyways, Zatu was just being dramatic. Korra admitted to herself, as she walked back toward her room in the White Lotus compound, that she might have treaded on his patience today a little harder than she usually did. She was just so disappointed - she’d been certain that for her birthday, she would be allowed to visit Republic City. But the answer had been no. Just as it always was.  
  
She threw herself onto her bed, ready for a full-out moping session now that she had the opportunity for some privacy, but was interrupted by a quiet knock at the door.   
  
“Come in!” she invited politely - she supposed she could spend five minutes of her first day as a twelve year old behaving like an adult.  
  
Katara entered, and Korra spared a moment to be quietly desperately grateful that she hadn’t air-slammed the door shut in the older woman’s face. “Good evening, Master Katara.” she muttered, abruptly embarrassed. No doubt Zatu had already filled her in on Korra’s earlier behavior.  
  
“Good evening, Korra.” Katara returned with a gentle smile, letting her know that she wasn’t in trouble for her day-long tantrum, and Korra felt her insides wither with shame.   
  
“What can I do for you?” she asked, in no mood to prolong social niceties. Katara wasn’t having it.  
  
“You are troubled.” the older woman observed, sitting down next to her on the bed.   
  
“Yeah, well.” Korra muttered, and then when that didn’t seem to be a satisfactory answer, she elaborated, “I was just hoping to get out of here for awhile, that’s all.”  
  
She waited for Katara to repeat all the soothing or remonstrative phrases that everyone else had thrown at her; she was too young, the city wasn’t safe, the avatar had to be protected, she had her training to attend. But Katara continued to wait in silence, and suddenly, something broke, and everything came flooding out.  
  
“When Aang was my age, he saved the world, Katara! I’ve never even seen the world! I’ve never seen or done anything! He mastered water bending in months, with you as his teacher, and traveled across the globe while he was doing it. I want to follow in his footsteps, but how can I, when no one will even let me past the outer walls? And how can I even begin to demand the right, when I’m such a complete failure to his legacy?”  
  
Katara was silent for a moment longer, thoughtful, and then she reached out and took Korra’s hand, something she hadn’t done since Korra was a small child. “Korra, you’ve been very interested lately in hearing my tales of Aang’s adventures - do you remember how his adventure starts?”  
  
“Of course.” Korra responded immediately, surprised. She’d heard that tale since she was a baby. “You and Sokka found him in a glacier, and brought him back to meet your tribe -”   
  
“That is how my story starts, Korra. Aang’s story starts earlier; he found out he was the avatar, and he made the choice to run away from that knowledge.”   
  
Korra had already known that of course, but she’d never heard Katara put it into those terms before. That part of the story had always been told more gently. She started to protest, feeling some vague need to defend Katara’s husband to her, but the older woman placed a quelling hand on her arm.  
  
“You mistake me; I am not criticizing Aang. That is the way of air; it changes paths suddenly, going where it will. There are patterns, of course, but they are ever-changing - air is, at its essence, the element of freedom. Water,” and suddenly Korra wondered if she was meant to be taking notes, “is different. When Aang awoke, when my adventure started - everyone he loved was dead. A war had been raging for 100 years. So many of his choices had been taken away.”  
  
“That’s - that’s terrible.” Korra had never thought of it that way before; when Katara told Aang’s stories, she always portrayed him as a hero from the start. It had never occurred to Korra to think about what he must have been feeling, about the guilt and loss that must have weighed him down. She tried to imagine how she would feel if her mother and father were gone, and couldn’t even picture it.  
  
“The path we took wasn’t the one Aang would have chosen - it wasn’t the one any of us would have chosen, Korra. We were a trickle of water - we followed the road available to us, gaining strength, until we had the force to break through mountains and forge a path of our own choosing.”  
  
The lesson Katara was trying to share suddenly became painfully clear. “I should follow the path that has been laid out for me.” Korra muttered, to show that she understood, even if it filled her with bitterness.

 

"That's not exactly what I'm saying." Katara returned. "I am saying that you must stop comparing yourself to Aang. You wish to be become great; you will not do so by attempting to follow someone else's path. Yours is stretched out in front of you." her mouth twisted. "I do not agree with all of the choices that have been made for you, my dear - it seems unfair. But fairness is not what is under consideration; right now you are a trickle. You can throw yourself uselessly against the rocks, or you can follow the path available to you, and gain what strength and knowledge there is to be found along it, until you have the force to forge the path of your choosing."

  
  
The older woman abruptly stood up. "I will leave you to your thoughts, Korra - I hope I will see you at dinner later. I believe your mother has baked you a cake."

 

"Yes, of course. Thank you master Katara." she replied politely. The older woman exited the room, and Korra stared after her thoughtfully for a long moment, absent-mindedly pulling a thread of water out of the skin on her bedside table and whirling it in a gentle circle. She looked at it for a moment, and then carefully shaped it into the skyline of republic city, as she'd seen it sketched in one of her books. It was a distant goal, but she would find her way there - along whatever path was available to her.


End file.
